Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.00.

VITL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Craig Hallum initiated coverage on Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Activity at Vital Farms

In other Vital Farms news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total value of $916,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,038,890 shares in the company, valued at $268,815,209.10. This trade represents a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $1,789,245.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537,349 shares in the company, valued at $21,531,574.43. This trade represents a 7.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 137,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,328,422. Company insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vital Farms

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VITL. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Vital Farms by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 937,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,859,000 after purchasing an additional 214,839 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 6.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 253,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,888,000 after acquiring an additional 14,426 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 372,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,066,000 after acquiring an additional 34,412 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 882.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 20,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 18,252 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 57.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 95,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,347,000 after acquiring an additional 34,758 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Vital Farms Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of VITL opened at $37.69 on Thursday. Vital Farms has a twelve month low of $14.16 and a twelve month high of $48.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.65 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $34.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.10.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $145.27 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. The company’s revenue was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Vital Farms will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Vital Farms

Vital Farms, Inc, a food company, provides pasture-raised products in the United States. It offers shell eggs, butter, hard-boiled eggs, and liquid whole eggs. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.